We’re Mapping Time, Together
Eight new stories, a magazine cover, and a new year of reflecting on time, transformation, and artists creating connection beyond the walls.
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Happy New Year EA community!
We are stepping into 2026 and offering a big congratulations to Empowerment Avenue artist M. Seishin Cádiz on being selected for “Mapping Time,” a juried group exhibition that opened on January 9 to a packed audience at Mercury 20 Gallery in Oakland.
“Mapping Time” brings together artists who approach time as a living material—something that accumulates, decays, heals, and transforms. Chosen from more than 600 submissions, Seishin’s work is included among the 41 artists featured. Congratulations Seishin! We know how significant a moment this is for you.
We also want to shout out San Quentin art instructor Katya McCulloch, who is also included in the exhibition. Below, we’re spotlighting Seishin’s piece and Katya’s piece, the latter of which includes a collaborative print made with fellow San Quentin art instructors and returned artists.
“Mapping Time” is especially meaningful because it’s an exhibition not solely centered around prison or incarceration. We love seeing our artists expand the places they submit their art to, being recognized beyond expected frames, and having their work exist within broader, mainstream arts conversations.
This is what we believe in. Art is a vehicle that brings us together and creates connection.
If you’re in the Bay Area, we hope you’ll make time to visit Mercury 20 to support these artists. “Mapping Time” is on view through February 7, 2026, with Oakland Art Murmur/First Friday happening on February 6 between 5 and 9 p.m.
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Artist Spotlight: Alvin Smith
This month, we’re uplifting EA artist Alvin Smith, who has been with us since 2022, as his work continues being recognized in national and international publications and exhibitions nationally and internationally.
In December, his painting Undesirable Water, pictured above, was chosen as the cover for The Massachusetts Review’s Winter 2025 issue, which focused on “Incarceration & Family.” His painting, Daddy’s Clothes, shown below, was also included in a glossy eight-page interior spread.
Here is Alvin’s reflection about these paintings and his overall art practice:
“I’ve spent years addressing the effects of the carceral system on us, the incarcerated, our friends and families… In spite of experiencing the full range of heavy emotions associated with exploring the stories I leave on canvas, I’m empowered by a sense of duty to tell them. When you gaze upon the piece Daddy’s Clothes, it’s cute to see a young boy mimicking his dad.
Does it change the way you feel about the piece to learn that perhaps his father is incarcerated and the youth is trying to become the man of the family in order to prevent its collapse? Art is the loudest part of my voice, and I am compelled to use it.”
Alvin’s talent is limitless. This month he begins teaching a beginning painting class at Muskegon Correctional Facility. We are all excited about this opportunity for him to grow his skills. Alvin may be the most excited of us all because, as he says, “I get to bring the freedom of creativity to the men who need it the most.”
Our Latest Work
EA artist Alvin Smith, along with EA writers Kwaneta Harris and Demetrius Buckley, are included in The Massachusetts Review’s1 Winter 2025 issue. Kwaneta contributed an essay titled “The Family We Make” while Demetrius published two poems, “Take This Poem as a Gift You May Never Open” and “Stay Away from the Light” in the issue.
For Prism2, Carla J. Simmons reports about how “routine” strip searches traumatize people incarcerated in U.S. prisons.
In a piece for Bay City News3, Steve Brooks, who is a California local news fellow, explores how a number of criminal justice reform organizations came together to continue their push to transform California prisons.
Double up: Steve Brooks also reported another piece for Bay City News about allegations of rigged elections and the forced removal of representatives from the Incarcererated Persons Advisory Council. As he reports, these allegations are “causing residents to question the integrity of their representatives and what effect that has on legitimate efforts toward reform at the prison.”
Demetrius Buckley penned a beautiful essay for Vera4 about how he connects and seeks joy during the holidays. As he writes, “Joy is an infectious emotion, and it has to be carried delicately while in a place that holds misery.”
For The Prison Journalism Project5, Kwaneta Harris writes about a visit she shared with her mother and her son. “Everything here is designed to be temporary, uncomfortable, utilitarian. … But somehow, with them here, the harsh edges of this place soften.”
Robert Lee Williams writes for Slate6 about how he embraces life during the holiday season.
For Filter7, Tony Vick spoke with five correctional officers working within the South Central Correctional Facility, a medium-security private prison in Tennessee, about how their jobs are becoming unsustainable.
In prisons, where corrections departments profit from selling incarcerated people electronics at a markup, Jimmy Iakovos reports for Filter about resident handymen who fix devices for a small fee. He writes: “Electronic device repair is a valuable job skill that every corrections department should be helping develop through formal vocational programs.”
Inside/Outside Insights
CONGRATULATIONS: This month, In Exchange for Flesh, a short film co-directed by Sandro Ramani and EA artist and filmmaker Corey Devon Arthur and co-produced by Sara Kielly, screened during the annual Dances With Films festival in New York City. It was one of 157 films chosen for the festival. In their review, Film Threat said the movie “exposes the gray area between justice and rehabilitation and makes clear that the incarcerated are human beings.” Congratulations Corey and Sara!
LISTEN: Jeremy Busby, a writer Empowerment Avenue supports, appeared on iHeart Radio's kill switch podcast to discuss how prisons are attempting to block social media from being used to reveal prison conditions.
CONGRATULATIONS: Kwaneta Harris has joined Solitary Watch as a senior writer and editor. Narratively readers also named her essay, “Letter to My Teenage Self: You Will Be Saved by the Power of Your Words,” one of the best of 2025. Much love, Kwaneta!
Team Reflections
If there is one thing we know, it’s that time does not stop. With 24 hours each day, it’s safe to say time is always ticking. The question becomes: What do we do with the time we have? How do we manage what is within our control with the time we’re given?
Empowerment Avenue’s inside community is creating, writing, storytelling, reporting, expressing, shaping, drawing, illustrating, storyboarding, and working across so many forms of expression. So what do we do with the time on the outside as we settle into 2026? We start with one 24-hour cycle. One pitch. One edit. One GTL call. One Securus message. One social media post. One connection with a new or existing organization.
We are here because we know what it feels like when someone cares enough to see your voice included and your creative expression valued, despite past decisions, circumstances, or being behind bars. We may have caused harm, been harmed, or both, yet somewhere in all of this mess are people who care about diverse perspectives, redemption, creativity, and difference, and who want to hear, see, and read from the center of that mess.
2026 will be many things. For us, it will include finding ways to be directly in the mess, with disruption, solidarity, and care.
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The Massachusetts Review is a quarterly magazine and blog that publishes literature and art that “provoke debate, inspire action, and expand our understanding of the world around us.” Submissions are accepted year-round with different requirements for nonfiction, fiction, performance, poetry, public affairs, and art. They pay a $100 honorarium to all magazine writers and a $50 honorarium to all blog writers.
Prism is an independent, nonprofit newsroom led by and for people of color that launched the Right to Write Project to feature and pay incarcerated writers. They pay $.50 per word.
Local News Matters is a nonprofit newsroom that publishes community coverage about the San Francisco Bay Area. They pay between $150 for timely short reported stories (400-500 words with one to two sources) and between $250-$300 for longer stories (800-1000 words with several sources).
Vera is the blog of The Vera Institute, a group of advocates, researchers, and activists working to end mass incarceration. It is unclear how much they pay for stories.
Prison Journalism Project (PJP) is a nonprofit working to change the storytellers by training incarcerated people in the tools of journalism and publishing their stories. PJP typically pays $50 per story, though payments can range from between $10 for a short contribution of a few sentences to $200. PJP is committed to compensating every writer they publish, wherever it is legally permitted.